Clashes across Syria on Sunday left at least 40 people dead, including 35 in the northwest, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP on Monday. 35 people -- 27 civilians and eight security men -- were killed in Jisr Ash Shugur as military and security forces continued operations pro-democracy protesters in northwestern Idlib province.

Further north, in the town of Idlib, security forces scattered some 1,500 demonstrators, he told the news agency.

Two Syrians were also died in the coastal town of Jabla when security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators calling for the release of a detained sheikh.

In the eastern town of Deir Ezzor, security forces shot at protesters rallying in front of a building of the ruling Baath party, killing three of them, the activist conveyed.

On Sunday, security forces returned the body of a man kept in custody for a month to his parents in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

And not in the first time since the crisis started in March 15و the regime announced on Sunday its willingness to accept a key demand by the opposition – political pluralism. The regime announced it would establish a committee to prepare a draft law on political parties, as reported by the official Syrian news agency SANA.